St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-15
DARLING DIMPsEY DUNCAN
The Pretty Bait-Seller. of Curtis
Bay Leaves Her Old Home. =

Curtis bay, near Baltimore. is the
haunt OF all good fishermen thereabouts:!
1t is a beautiful stretch of water that
makes back from the Patapsco, and ind
some places is of wonderful depth. 1t
is within few minutes ride of Balti-'
more. A short distance back from thei
bay shore, in Anne Arundel county,i
stands the ruin of an old mansiOn,l
WHICH at one time was the manor of one
OF Maryland's early and distinguished
families. 1t is nothing but an old howell
now, In which, the rats hold their midi
night revels. The last real owner of
the place committed suicide by DROP
ping himself from the roof down thei
broad chimney and dashing his brainSi
out on the kitchen hearth. OF late years.
the tumbllng down dOmicile has afforded
an apology for shelter to Esther Dun
can, an old Irishwoman, who bYj
the aid of her pretty daughter made al
living for both by selling bait to thei
fishermen. Lovers of the sport WOULD
give twice the usual price for smalE
can or worms or a peeler from thej
chubby hands of Dimpsey DuncanJ
Both mother and daughter were most of
the time in rags, but in summer Dimp-t
Sey wore only clothes enough 10 decentIyl
cover her well-rOunded form. Thesei
even she dotted at shutdown, and With
the scantiest kind of bathing trousersj
enjoyed swimming in the bay. SeveraH
times dlSSlpated young men from thet
city tried to lure the girl to some of the;
town dives, but while she knew nothingl
OF religion she carefully guarded herr
honor. When the gudgeOn fishing sea-
son opened last month the fishermen
looked i'll vain along the shores for oldl
Esther or young Dimpsey, but neither
could be found. Farmers and boatmen1
about the place said that the couple left
some time during the winter, but wherej
they went these people did not know.1
A couple OF sports from town, .however.j
who are not afraid of SpOOkS, miSSingl
their old bait supplier, the .other day,l
made search of the haunted housed
They found no ghosts, but in thei
only habitable room in the howell
they saw the bed, the old broken trunk
filled with ragged underclOthing, worm
out shoes and newspapers, and other
articles belonging to the women, just aS1
they had left them. From the appear,
ance of the room their departure must
have been hasty. On the top of the
battered trunk was tackled a letter ad- |
dressed to the friends of Dimpsey Dun !
can. 1t read as follows: (:
"Any of you who find this note, please
give our furniture and things to some
poor people like we used to be. We are
very tired of being poor, but we had to-
saveand save and wait till we got rich.
Ha! ha! the haunted house was a goodl
savings bank. Ghosts brighten more
thieves than pistols. We had saved,
together with what we found under the
floor in the kitchen when we came here,
about $1,000. / often wanted to spendf
some of the money for clothes like other
girls wear, but mother wouldn't let me, |!
so we have gone off now to spend it, !,
The old howell will now be torn down
and every brick upturned in search of ;
hidden treasure. The Duncans must |
have found most of their 5000 in the
old house, as in their five years. occu- !
pancy of the house they certainly could
not have made that much money selling
bait to fishermen.